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Jerome L. Frecon - Click to enlarge
Jerome L. Frecon
As an agricultural agent with Rutgers Cooperative Extension of Gloucester County, Jerome L. Frecon has worked tirelessly to enhance and promote New Jersey's agriculture industry and given countless hours of his time to the betterment of his academic profession.

After receiving a bachelor of science degree in horticulture from Delaware Valley College in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, and a master of science degree in plant science from Cook College, Rutgers University, Frecon ran his own produce business and garden center in Boyertown, Pennsylvania, and worked for commercial nurseries in Oregon and Missouri before joining Rutgers Cooperative Extension in 1982.

As agricultural agent, Frecon has developed and implemented a variety of educational programs for Gloucester County's agribusinesses and the fruit industry in Atlantic, Burlington, Camden, Cumberland and Salem Counties.

Frecon is the prolific and widely published author of 260 articles and book chapters on tree fruit science and nursery crops. He has helped tree fruit growers implement major improvements in production practices and varietal selections through his research and through 230 meetings, conferences and workshops for New Jersey farmers and allied industries.

Frecon is a member and distinguished award recipient of the International Dwarf Fruit Tree Association and the National Association of County Agricultural Agents. He is also a member of the International Horticultural Society, the American Pomological Society, the American Society of Horticultural Science, the National Peach Council and the American Farm Bureau.

A former member of the FARMS Commission's technical advisory committee and working group, Frecon is also a member and past Man of the Year of the New Jersey Agribusiness Association and the New Jersey Farm Bureau. He has also received the New Jersey Nursery and Landscape Association's Distinguished Service Award.

Frecon is past vice president and member of the Board of Directors of the New Jersey Horticultural Society which he still serves as business manager; past member of the Board of Directors and current business manager of the New Jersey Peach Council; member of and advisor to the New Jersey Peach Promotion Council; and an officer of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection's Historic Pesticide Task Force. He has also served as president, vice president and secretary of the Pesticide Association of New Jersey and is an active member of the Agricultural Agents Association of New Jersey.

In Gloucester County, Frecon has been a member of the Board of Agriculture since 1982 and a director of the County Agricultural Development Board since 1986. He has served as the County Soil Conservation District liaison from Rutgers Cooperative Extension since 1985 and has been a member of both the Gloucester County Business and Economic Development Council and the Gloucester County Open Space Land Preservation Committee since the mid-1990s.

Frecon and his wife Alice have three children, Matthew, Joshua and Phillip.

In recognition of his accomplishments and with appreciation for his many years of beneficial service to agriculture in the Garden State, the State Board of Agriculture takes great pleasure in presenting Jerome L. Frecon with its citation for Distinguished Service to New Jersey Agriculture.